Genesis 34:23

Summary

This verse is part of Hamor's speech urging the men of Shechem to accept intermarriage with Jacob's family. He argues rhetorically that the livestock and possessions of Jacob's clan will effectively become shared property, and urges agreement so that the two groups may dwell together.

Key words

• mikneHem ("their livestock", H4735) — construct noun + 3mp suffix, first of three parallel terms for property, each in construct form governed by the following suffix.
• haLo' ("is it not", H9008 + H3808) — interrogative particle combined with negation, forming a rhetorical question that expects a positive answer ("surely...").
• neOtah ("let us agree", H0225) — niphal form with cohortative sense, expressing a collective proposal or consent, contrasting with the qal active sense the root might carry elsewhere.
• ye.she.Vu ("let them dwell", H3427) — qal imperfect with prefixed vav, expressing purpose or consequence following the cohortative neOtah: "let us agree... so that they may dwell."
• 'akh ("only", H0389) — restrictive adverb narrowing the condition to a single requirement (consent) before the stated outcome (dwelling together) can occur.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts. The first is a rhetorical question built on haLo' ("is it not"), which in Biblical Hebrew signals an assertion phrased as a question expecting agreement. Three nouns in construct chains — mikneHem ("their livestock", H4735), kinyaNam ("their possessions", H7075), and kol behemTam ("all their animals", H3605 + H0929) — are piled up before the predicate laNu Hem ("[belong] to us, they"), emphasizing the property that would become shared through the marriage alliance.

The second part shifts to a cohortative construction: 'akh neOtah laHem ("only let us agree with them"), followed by ve-yesheVu 'itaNu ("and let them dwell with us"), a qal imperfect with vav indicating the intended result of the agreement. The syntax moves from a rhetorical question about material gain to a proposal of mutual consent and cohabitation, with 'akh ("only") marking consent as the sole condition.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew phrases the first clause as a rhetorical question (haLo', "is it not"), and the LXX (Swete) preserves this interrogative form (οὐχ ἡμῶν ἔσται;). The Vulgate, however, renders it as a plain declarative statement, "nostra erunt" ("they will be ours"), removing the rhetorical-question structure present in the Hebrew and LXX. The Vulgate also adds an explanatory clause, "habitantes simul, unum efficiemus populum" ("dwelling together, we will make one people"), which has no corresponding wording in the Hebrew text given here or in the LXX line, both of which simply state that the two groups will dwell together (ye.she.Vu 'itaNu / οἰκήσουσιν μεθ' ἡμῶν).